Spotify may be testing how personalization can work with its official editor-curated playlists.
Multiple reports note that Spotify will use algorithms to tailor its editor-curated playlists even further for listeners. Hypebot first broke the news, with The Verge and Billboard quickly reporting the same thing.
Both Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists could form the basis for these recommendation ‘injections’. Basically, mainline playlists will be peppered with songs that appeal to specific users, based on their listening histories.
Beast Mode, Chill Hits, Dance Party, and Metal Ballads are all part of the new test. At this early stage, it appears that only a limited number of users are included in the test. The algorithm won’t be adopted for highly curated playlists like RapCaviar and Today’s Top Hits, which are two of Spotify’s most popular playlists.
When asked for a statement about the new algorithm test, a Spotify spokesperson said, “We are always testing new ways to create better listening experiences for more users, while also finding ways for users to discover more music.”
As far as non-statements go, that’s probably one the best we’ve heard in a while. But we’re hoping to see some of these playlist personalizations in the wild.
The hyper-personalization play is happening against a continued surge by Apple Music. Spotify is trying plenty of different strategies to keep its position as number one paid streaming service globally.
Among those strategies are exclusive concerts based on its curated playlists like RapCaviar, and exclusive podcasts with hosts speaking to producers, songwriters, and musicians in the industry. Spotify has also delved into other non-traditional ideas like playlist merchandise and even an experiment that allows free users skip as many ads as they like.
Whether this latest personalization play gives Spotify an edge remains to be seen, though the platform is undoubtedly measuring changes in engagement in realtime.
And if it works? Apple Music will probably try something similar.